| Abstract Detail
Genetics Tripp, Erin A [1], Zhuang, Yongbin [2], Stone, Heather [2]. Interspecific hybridization between two divergent Ruellia species yields first-generation hybrids that express novel Anthocyanin Biosynthetic Pathway genes. New combinations of divergent parental genomes can yield novel genetic functions in resulting hybrid progeny, and such functions may contribute to hybrid viability and evolutionary longevity. Recent studies that have used transcriptomes to compare gene expression data between parental species and their F1 hybrids and have documented additive molecular variation in the F1 hybrids as well as transgressive (non-additive) variation. In plants specifically, the degree to which transgressive genotypes contribute to floral novelty and diversification and whether this variation is arranged into genomic hotspots remains a question of key interest. The anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway has been characterized extensively and represents an excellent model for testing the potential importance of transgressive variation in floral evolution. We produced an artificial F1 hybrid between the red-flowered Ruellia elegans and yellow-flowered Ruellia speciosa and then generated corolla and vegetative transcriptome data for the two parents plus the hybrid. RNAseq data assembled using Trinity and anchored via a newly developed and fully annotated nuclear genome of Ruellia speciosa yielded ~70,000 unigenes. We found numerous unigenes present in the F1 hybrid but absent from either parent, suggesting the possibility a role for transgressive gene expression in floral divergence. Some of these transgressive unigenes are floral specific and belong to a group of MYB transcription factors known to be important regulators of anthocyanin expression. Continued studies across the genus Ruellia (~350 spp.) will contribute insight into genomic mechanisms and rearrangements that yield evolutionary novelty.
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1 - University Of Colorado Boulder, C105, Ramaley Hall, Campus Box 334, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA
2 - University of Colorado, EBIO
Keywords:
genetics
novel
Hybrids
anthocyanin
floral evolution
Acanthaceae.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 11, Genetics
Location: 105/Savannah International Trade and Convention Center
Date: Monday, August 1st, 2016
Time: 3:45 PM
Number: 11009
Abstract ID:768
Candidate for Awards:Margaret Menzel Award |
